April 26, 2008

Finally the weekend is here. I got so far behind last week I think I only made it into work one day. To be fair I do a lot of work at home. All the same, I didn’t get a lot done. I’m thinking next week will be better. In the meantime I’m going to take some time off from being stressed out. To celebrate my short vacation from everything (for the weekend) here’s the one of the short stories that Neil Gaiman read at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) benefit at New York Comic Con:

The Day the Saucers Came by Neil Gaiman

That day, the saucers landed. Hundreds of them, golden,Silent, coming down from the sky like great snowflakes,And the people of Earth stood and stared as they descended,Waiting, dry-mouthed to find what waited inside for usAnd none of us knowing if we would be here tomorrowBut you didn’t notice it because

That day, the day the saucers came, by some coincidence,Was the day that the graves gave up their deadAnd the zombies pushed up through soft earthor erupted, shambling and dull-eyed, unstoppable,Came towards us, the living, and we screamed and ran,But you did not notice this because

On the saucer day, which was the zombie day, it was Ragnarok also, and the television screens showed usA ship built of dead-man’s nails, a serpent, a wolf,All bigger than the mind could hold, and the cameraman couldNot get far enough away, and then the Gods came outBut you did not see them coming because

On the saucer-zombie-battling gods day the floodgates broke And each of us was engulfed by genies and spritesOffering us wishes and wonders and eternitiesAnd charm and cleverness and true brave hearts and pots of goldWhile giants feefofummed across the land, and killer bees,But you had no idea of any of this because

That day, the saucer day the zombie day The Ragnarok and fairies day, the day the great winds cameAnd snows, and the cities turned to crystal, the dayAll plants died, plastics dissolved, the day theComputers turned, the screens telling us we would obey, the dayAngels, drunk and muddled, stumbled from the bars,And all the bells of London were sounded, the dayAnimals spoke to us in Assyrian, the Yeti day,The fluttering capes and arrival of the Time Machine day,You didn’t notice any of this becauseyou were sitting in your room, not doing anythingnot even reading, not really, justlooking at your telephone,